Bag-opening machine



E. T. ENRIGHT BAG OPENING MACHINE Filed June 10 June 26, 1923;

INVENTOR fZZu/ard fiziwyzi.

Patented June 26, 19236 ED stares PATENT orrice.

EDWARD r. ENRIGHT, or JERsnY m NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO P. LORILLARD COMPANY, on NEW YORK, N. A oonroan'rron or NEW JERSEY.

BAG-OPENING MACHINE.

Application filed June 10, 1922. Serial No. 567,324.

To all whom 1' t concern: Be it known that I, EDWARD T. ENRIGHT, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Jersey City, in the county of Hudsonand 5 State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Bag-Opening Machines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to bag opening machine, and more particularly to a machine for receiving, opening and delivering bags in succession to a bag filling mechanism, and has special. reference to the provision of a machine of this nature capable of efiicient cooperation with the bag filling mechanism V irrespective of improper bag receiving activity of the machine. 1 r

The present invention has particular ref erence to improvements in bag opening machines of the type disclosed in the patent to Henderson and Tietz, No. 1,111,899, of September 29, 1914. As disclosed in the said patent, the bag opening machine comprises a carrier in the form of a turntable provided with a plurality of spaced bag holders movable through bag receiving, opening and delivering stations for receiving bags from a feeding means, for opening the same to be filled with a commodity, such as tobacco, and for delivering the same in opened condition to a bag filling mechanism.

In the operation of bag opening machines of this type it was necessary where unhindered activity of the machine was desired, to so feed the bags to the holders, that each holder when presented at the bag receiving station be supplied Withoutmiss with a bag, and that only a single bag be so supplied and positioned in the holder. When 0 no bag is fed to the holder none is subsequently delivered therefrom and supplied to the bag filling mechanism, and to prevent the filling mechanism from improperly releasing a charge of a commodity in the absence of a bag, means must be provided for automatically stopping the machine under these conditions. Before resumption of operation of the machine is possible the missing bag must be supplied, this involving an undue loss of time. Recently a bag feeding machine has been devised as described in the copending application of Ritchie and Boykin Ser. No. 467,985, filed May 9, 1921,

by means of which the bags are unmistakably fed to the bag holders substantially without miss, the stopping of the machine due to miss in the feeding being thereby prevented. This feeding machine is, moreover, so constructed not only to effect uniform feeding of the bags, but to effect feeding of the bags singly, since multiple feeding at the delivery station, this resulting in a failure of removal of the bag from the holder and a consequent stopping of the machine. The prime desideratum of the present invention comprehends the provision of a machine in which the bag opening mechanism operates properly even though a plurality of bags are accidentally fed to a holder, and in which the bag opening mechanism cooperates effectively with the bag filling mechanism, no stoppage of the machine taking place in spite of multiple bag feeding activity. a I i The principal objects of the present invention may be said'to include, besides the provision of an improved bag opening machine of the type referred to, the further provision of a machine of this nature in which when a a plurality of bags are received by a holder only one of the bags will be operated upon by the bag opening mechanismflzhe other of the bags being retained in unopened or fiat condition so as not to interfere with the openingof the first bag, themecha-nismbeing so constructed as to permit of this function; and thefurther provision of a. machine of this nature in which the unopened or improperly present bag will be expelled or ejected from the holder in the further operation of the machine. g

To the-accomplishment of the foregoing and such other objectsas may hereinafter appear, my invention consists in the elements and their relation one to the other, as hereinafter particularly described and sought to be defined in the claims, reference being had to the accompanying drawings which show a preferred embodiment of my invention and in which:

Figure 1 is a front elevational view of the bag feeding machine, showing my improve ments thereon,

Figure 2is a fragmentary viewof the same, showing the manner in which a foreign or stray bag is expelled from the holder,

, Figure 3 is a plan view of a holder showing the manner in which a plurality ofbags therein are operated upon, and

Figure 1 is a perspective view of one of the finger gripping elements of my invention constructed to accommodate a plurality of bags present in a holder. T

Referring in detail to the drawings, .i.

show a, bag feeding mechanism A operative for-feeding a-plurahty of bags successively to a bag opening machine 13, the said bag opening machine being adapted for receiving a bag andv advancing the same through hag opening and delivering stations, the opened bag being removed from the bag opening mechanism by a bag removing mechanism C which carries the opened 'to a filling station where the same is filled with a commodity, such as tobaccoQ The bag feeding mechanism A is sub stantially the same as that disclosed in, the

cop'ending application of Ritchie and Boykin above referred to, and'comprises in part the spaced friction feed rollers 10 and 11 mounted for rotation on shafts 12 and 13, the latter journalledin the framework 7", of. the

machine, the friction feed rollers receiving bags successively' from a magazine, (not shown) and advancing the same to a pair of superposed curling rollers 14: and 15 fixed to shafts 16 and 17 and movable in opposite directions by means of the intermeshing gears 18 and 19 pinned to the said shafts, the curling rollers 14 and 15 functioning for ironing out a central longitudinal portion of the bag and for causing the lateral edges of the bag to be curled up- "wardly from the longitudinal central portion, so that the central part of the bag when received by a holder will lie flat against the rear wall of the holder, this to facilitate subsequent bag opening operation.

The bags after beingadvanced through the.

1,45e,seo

the turntable and movable through a bag receiving station 5, a bag opening station 8, an inactive station located to the rear of the bag receiving station 3, and a bag delivery or removal station 8 Each holder, such as 23, is pivotally carried by the turntable 21, a trunnion plate 24: attached to'the holder beingv rockably mounted in suitable bearings such as 25 in the turntable, this mounting permitting the rocking of a holder about the trunnion axis in the rotation of the holder through the various operating stations. The holder is oscillated or rocked from an inclined posi-- tion such as shown at the station 3', where bag-opening takes place, to a position less inclined to the vertical, such as-shown at the bag removing station 8 and for the purpose of rocking the holders during the rotation of the carrier or turntable, there is provided a cam plate 26 having a cam groove 27, and cooperating with this groove each holder is provided with an actuating arm 28 having at one end a cam follower 28 movable in the cam groove 27 and pivot ally connectedat its other end to a link 30 which in turn is pivotally attached to the trunnion plate 24 of the holder. lVith the provision of this means, it will be apparent that upon rotation of the turntable the cam follower-s 29 in following the cam groove 27 will cause the oscillation or rocking of the holders as described.

The turntable 21 is, moved intermittently vso that the holders are positioned successively 1n the various operating stations, and

for accomplishing the intermittent actuation of the turntable 21 the said turntable is provided with a-plurality of spaced tooth elements such as the four bolts 31 depending from the turntable 21, and for engag- Inc ing these tooth elements there is provided an oscillatable arm carrying a pawl ele ment33, the arm 32 being rotatable about the post 22 and being oscillated by means of a link 33 to positions for successively engaging the tooth elements 31 to effect the intermittent rotationof the turntable 21to advance the bags from the receiving station 8 to the bag opening station 8 and from there on to theother operating station.

hen a holder such as 23 and a bag therein is advanced to the station 8, a bag opening mechanism is operated for opening the bag to substantially its full capacity, and

for retaining the bag in opened condition.

For opening the bag there is provided the reciprocating spoon 3% plvotally mounted on an axis 315 on a cross bar 36,, the said cross bar being guided by spaced guide rods 37, only one of which appears in the drawings, the cross bar 36 being provided with sleeves or bosses-38 encircling the guide, rods and slidable thereon. The spoon 34 is caused to oseillate vertically into and out of co- 7'', the said shaft being provided with an operating gear 43 meshing with the operat- ,ing gears of the feeding mechanism, (not shown); When the turntable is positioned with a bag in the holder 2 the spoon 34 when caused to descend will first engage the inside surfac of the rear wall oiithe bag, and will then enter between the walls of the bag, opening the same to the condition shown at the station s' For the purpose of effecting a full opening of the bag, in addition to the reciprocating motion of the spoon an oscillating motion is imparted thereto about the axis 35,]and to the further end of imparting to the bag a final kick to open the same to full capacity, the spoon 34 1s provided with a cam follower 42 movable over a cam 43' attached to the frameworlroi' the machine.

To retain. the bag in opened condition and prevent its collapsing upon return or upward movement of the spoon 34, means 15 provided for engaging or grippingthe side edges of the bag with the front and rear walls held in spaced or bulged condition. To these ends eachot the holders is provided with opposed baggripping elements 44 and 45 provided with the spaced receiving notches 46 and 47 "for receiving the side edges of a bag, such as b, to maintain the bag in opened condition as clearly shown in Figs. 1 and 3 of the drawings. The gripping elements 44 and 45 are moved inopposite directions, these elements being moved towardseach other when a bag is opened by the spoon 34, and away from each other when the opened bag is positioned at the delivering station 8 ready for removal from the holder. as will appear hereinafter. For operating the gripping elements 44 and 45 in the desired manner, these elements are at tached to the hell crank levers 48 and 49 pivotally mounted. on the rear wall 01 a holder, such as 23, as at 50 and 51, the levers 48 and 49 being caused to oscillate upon operation of a slide bar 52 provided with spaced pins 53 and 54 received by suitable notches or slots. such as 55 and 56, in the bell crank levers 48 and 49. It willbe apparent from this construction that upon re ciprocation of the slide bar 52, the bell crank levers will be caused to oscillate and the gripping elements or fingers 44 and 45 will be caused to move in opposite directions towards and away from eaclrother.

For reciprocating the slide bar 52, each integral with the holder, and keyed to 0p posite ends of the shaft 57 there are pro vided the actuating arms 59 and 60. Fixed 4 to the shaft 57 there is also provided a connccting link 61 which is pivotally connected to the-slide bar52, as clearly shown in Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings. struction it will be apparent that upon downward movement of the actuating arm 59. the slide bar 52 will be caused to descend for efl'ecting themovement of thegripper fingers 44 and 45 towards each other to receive the side edges of an opened bag 6. It will be further apparent that upon down-- ward movement of the reversely arranged actuating lever 60, the reverse operation will take place and the gripping fingers 44 and 45 will becaused to move away-from each other i to release the bag 6.

For moving the actuating arm 59 downwardly so'as to cause the gripping fingers .to engage an opened bag, there is provided an operating rod 621iXed to the reciprocating' boss 38, the rod 62 and the arm 59 being positioned in the same vertical plane,- so

that upon descent of the opening spoon 34 the rod 62 will engage the arm 59 and move the same to the desired position. Thus'when the bag is opened the gripping fingers will be caused to engage the side edges thereof to retain the same in opened condition.

In the operation of this machine, it has.

l fith this conbeen tou'nd that when a plurality, such as two bags are accidentally fed to the bag holder 23 and are advanced to the bag openings station 8, operation of the bag gripping elements or fingers 44 and 45 causes engagement of the side'edges of both bags, and causes an interference with the opening of either-bag, with theresult that neither bag is properly opened, and with the'further result that when suchbags are advanced to the bag removing station 8 neither of the bags is removed, effecting the stopping of the machine and necessitating adjustment of the bags with the consequent loss oftime. To obviate this defective operation in the event of multiple bag. feeding, my present invention comprehends the provision of mechanism' for permitting the proper opening of one of the bags and for retaining such bag in opened condition, the mechanism being constructedso that a second bag improperly present in the holder will be accommodated without interfering with the bag opening activity of a first bag. To these ends the invention includes the provision of the bag engaging elements or fingers 44 and 45 in which in addition to the receiving notches 46 and 47 thereis provided a second set of receivingnotches such as 63 and 64 arranged in a plane to the rear of theplane of the notches 46 and 47. the distance between thebottoms ofthe said notches or cut-outs 63 and 64 being greater-than the distance be tween the bottoms of the front set o fnotche s 46 and ll, such; that a second. bag 6 in the holder 23-will be fully aecommodatecl by thenotches and 64 when the gripping elements 44; and 4-5. are caused to move towards .ering w, i the openingot a bag 6 in the holder! 3V 1th the provision of this means,

one of the bags is properly opened and therefore in condition to be delivered to the bag filling mechanism, stoppage of the machine as hitherto occurred being thereby obviated.-. i v

causing the expulsion or GjGOtIOIl otastray After a bag is opened the same is delivered to the station .9 where the bilgdS removed from the holder by theremoving mechanism C the latter deliverinmthe ba to the bag a o b "D filling machine. The removing mechanism C comprlses a rotatable and reciprocable bag entering member movable into and; out

ofcooperation with a holdersuch as 23 The bag entering member 65 upon descent moves into or enters the bag I) and when the side edges of the bag are released, the bagv triotionally adheresfto the bag entering member. the. latter carrying the adhering bagwith it uponiascent of thesarne. For causing the release of the'side edges of the bag i). the gripping elements l l and l5 are moved to. their outward positions, and to this end a plunger rodfie reciprocable with the bag entering member 65 18 provided, the said rod being arranged 1n the vertical plane of the actuating arm 60 heretofore referred to. A shown in Fig. 1 oi? the draw ngs, only,

he opened bag Z2 is removed at the delivery station .3 the improperly present or stray ban" Z) remaining in the holder 23 i As hereinbetore stated, a further and corelative obiect oi the invention coinprehends the provision of: means "foreiecting or ex-. pellino; the second or; stray bag I) so as to prevent any accumulation of stray bags in theholder. A bag such as b or b when received by the holder is retained therein by the" provision of the spaced bottom keepers 67 and Gdand the side-keepers 69 and 70.

For causing the expulsion of a straybag 7), the keepers 6'? and 68 are pivotally mounted in the holder, these keepers being pinnedto a-sha'tt 71 journalledin opposed bearings. 72 and 73, the shaftbeing provided with laterally projecting actuating arm 74% comprising a cam ztollower. The keepers 67 are normally retained in the bag retaining. position shown in Fig. 1, springs 75 and '76no'rrnally effecting this function. For expelling the stray bag b, the keeperst'zandGS are moved to the position shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings, this being accom'- plished by moving the actuating arm 74, the

bent in the holder being thereby released and expelled from the holder into areceptacle," (not shown) provided for this purpose. 1 For the purpose of operating the actuating arm 74 there is provided a cam track 77 fixed to an angle piece 78 and P ned t he. res 22 of the m h n he said am ra k being p si i ned. be ee h ag or foreignbag b.

The operation of my improv d bag opening machine will in the main, be apparent from the above detailed description thereof. It will be igurther apparent that in the event of multiple feeding of bags to a bag holder, the plurality of bagsin the holder will be suitably operated upon by the bag opening mechanism for effecting the full opening of. one of the bags and for maintaining the other bagin the fiat, the opened bags being successfully delivered to the bag filling machine with the consequent elimination of unnecessary stopping of the machine, the improperly present bag in the holder being expelled or ejected in the parting from the spirit of the invention, de

fined in the following claims.

I claim: y

1. In a bag opening machine, a. bag holder, provisions for opening a bag therein in' cluding mechanism operative for gripping the side edges of the bag for maintaining the same open, and means for permitting a secondbag present in the holder to lie flat therein upon operation of the said mechanism, whereby the presence of the second bag will not interfere with the opening activity of the first bag.

2. In a bag opening machine, a bag holder, provisions for opening a bag therein, mechanism for. gripping the side edges of the bag for maintaining the same in open condition, the saidnnechanism including means for permitting a second bag'present in. the holder to remain in flat condition therein upon operation of the said mechanism, whereby the presenceof the second bag will not interfere with the opening ac tivity of the first'bag.

3. In a bag opening machine, a bag holder, provisions for opening a bag therein, mechanism for gripping the side edges of the bag for maintaining the same in open condition, the said mechanism comprising opposed gripper fingers having receiving er, gripper fingers: mounted thereon and.

movable in opposite directions for. engaging and releasing the side edges of a bag, the gripper fingers being provided with sets of opposed notches, the distance between the bottoms of one set being, greater than the distance'loetween the bottoms of the other set, whereby upon movement of the gripper fingers towards each other one set of notches will receive an opened bag to maintain the same in open condition, and the other set of notches will receive a bag in fiat condition.

5. In a bag opening machine, a turntable provided with a plurality of spaced bag holders each movable through a bag recelving station, a bag opening station, and a bag delivery station, provisions at the said bag opening station for opening a bag in the holder, mechanism operative for gripping the side edges of the bag for maintaining the same open, andmeans for permitting a second bag present in the holder to lie flat therein upon operation or the said mechanism, whereby the presence of the second bag will not interfere with the opening activity of the first bag.

6. In a. bag opening machine, a turntable provided with a plurality of spaced bag holders each movable through a bag receiving station, a bag opening station, and a bag delivery station, provisions at the said bag opening station for opening a bag in the holder, mechanism operative for gripping the side edges of the bag for maintaining the same open, the said mechanism being constructed to permit a second bag present in the holder to lie flat therein upon operation of the said mechanism, means at the said bag delivery station for removing the opened bag from the holder, and instrumentalities for expelling the second bag from the said. holder. r

7. In a bag opening machine, a carrier provided with a plurality of bag holders movable through bag receiving, hag opening, and bag delivery stations, provisions for opening the bag in a holder including mechanism operative for gripping the side edges of the bag for maintaining the same open and for ermitting a second bag present in the holc er to remain in flat condition therein, means at the bag delivery station for removin theoaenedi ba from the t: s: solder and instruinentanties i'or elllfilllll 7 i p c: the second ba rrom the'said holder.

:8. In a bag opening machine, a carrier provided with a plurality of hag holders movable through receiving, bag open ing, and bag delivery stations, provisions for openingthe bag in a holder including mechanism operative for gripping the side edges of the bag for maintaining the same open and for permitting a second hag presentin the holder to remain in condition therein, means at the bag delivery station for re moving the opened bag from the holder, and instrumentalities for expelling the second bag from the said holder, the said instru nientalities being operative during movement of the carrier betweenthe bag delivery station and the bag'receiving station i 9. In a bag" opening machine, a bag holder movable from a bag delivery station to a bag receiving station, andinstrumentalities operative in the movementof the bag holder from the ba deliverv station to the bag receiving station for expelling a bag improperly present in the holder.

10. In a bag opening machine, a bag holder, means for supporting a bag therein comprising movable keepers arranged at the bottom of the holder normally active for retaining a bag in the holder and movable to gravitationally release-a bag for expulsion fromv the holder.

11. In a bag opening machine, in 'combi 1121131011 with a bag holder provided with movable keepers arranged at the bottomof the holder normally operative to retain the bag in the holder, of means cooperating with the said keepers for moving the same to a position to gravitationally release a bag in the said holder for expulsion of the same.

12. In a bagopening machine, in combination, a bag holder provided with movable keepers normally operative for maintaining a bag in the holder and means in the path of movement of the said holder for operating the said keepers to move the same to open position to release the bag from the holder. i 13. In a bag opening machine, in combination, a bag holder provided with movable keepers normally operative for main taining a bag in the holder and means in the path of movement of the said holdertor operating the said keepers to move the same to open position to release the bag from the holder, the said keepers being provided with an actuating cam follower member and the said means comprising a cam track cooperating with the said member. v

14:. In a bag opening machine, a turntable provided with a plurality of bag holders movable through a plurality of operating stations including a bag receiving station and a bag delivery or removing station,

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the said bag holder including means ton normally reta ning a bag therein, andv nstrinnentalities located between the bag removing station and the bag receiving stae tion for operatingsaid means tonexpel a 'stray'bag present in the said holder.v

15. In a bag opening machine, in combination with a bag holder provided With provisions normally operative to retain the bag .in the holder, of ineansoooperatlng withthe said provisions for operating the same'to expel a bag improperly present 1n the holder.

16. In a bagopening machine, afoarrier provided With a plurality of bag holders movable through bag receiving, bag opening, and bag delivery stations, provisions for opening the bag in a holder, meansat the bag delivery station for removing the opened bagfroin theholder and instru'nien talities for expelling a stray'bag present in .the said holder.

1.(.;ln abag opening machine, a bag holder movable from a bag delivery station to a bag receiving station, means at the bag ClGllVEIY station for removing an open bag in, mechanism for gripping the side edges of the bag for maintaining the same in open condition, and means operative for permitting a second stray bag to lie flat in the holder.

Signed at Jersey City, in-the county of Hudson and State of New Jersey, this 3rd day of June A. D. 1922. V r l EDWARDT. ENRIGHT. 

